Materials such as silicon (Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) have found wide application in semiconductor devices for lower power and (in the case of Si) lower frequency applications. These, more familiar, semiconductor materials may not be well suited for higher power and/or high frequency applications, however, because of their relatively small bandgaps (e.g., 1.12 eV for Si and 1.42 for GaAs at room temperature) and/or relatively small breakdown voltages.
In light of the difficulties presented by Si and GaAs, interest in high power, high temperature and/or high frequency applications and devices has turned to wide bandgap semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (2.996 eV for alpha SiC at room temperature) and the Group III nitrides (e.g., 3.36 eV for GaN at room temperature). These materials, typically, have higher electric field breakdown strengths and higher electron saturation velocities as compared to gallium arsenide and silicon.
In fabricating high power and/or high frequency devices from Group III nitrides, it may be beneficial to fabricate these devices on a semi-insulating Group III nitride layer, such as a semi-insulating GaN and/or AlInGaN layer. Insulating GaN layers have been fabricated by carefully controlling the deposition conditions of undoped GaN. Insulating GaN layers have also been fabricated by doping the GaN layers with Fe or C. While such techniques may produce a semi-insulating Group III nitride layer, variations between production runs may result in differing insulating characteristics of the resulting layers.